Dozens die in Guatemala landslide
Dozens die in Guatemala landslide
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Dozens of people are feared to have died in a huge landslide in a northern area of Guatemala.
Thousands of tons of earth collapsed onto a road in the Alta Verapaz area, some 200km (124 miles) north of the capital, killing at least 22 people.
But officials say the figure could be much higher as some 140 people were walking by at the time of Sunday's landslide, and many are still missing.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by further rockfalls, officials say.
The accident happened in a hilly, sparsely populated area, blocking a road that runs from San Cristobal Verapaz to Chicaman.
The same area was hit by a rockfall last month, killing at least two people.
The Spanish news agency, Efe, reports that more than 140 people had got out to walk along the road as their vehicles could not pass because of the previous landslide.
Some officials said a geological fault triggered the movement of earth, sending huge amounts of mud and rock down a hillside, while other reports suggested road work along the highway could have set off the slide.
Guatemalan media said the landslide was some 1.5km wide.
At least 22 deaths were confirmed but Sergio Cabanas , from the national disaster response team, told local television that at least 33 people had been killed and some 70 other were still missing.
